Swimming suit



March 14, 1944. J HAYWARD 2,343,974

SWIMMING SUIT Filed Dec. 31, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mveuron J- HAYWARD ATTORN'E Filed Dec. 31, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOFl a. HAYWARD W ATTORNE 8 Patented Mar. 14, 1944 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE Josephine flayi rl if ltlfizeiffzuebec. Canada Application December 31, 1941, Serial No. 425,191 In Canada December 9, 1941 1 Claim. (01. 2-67) This invention relates to improvements in swimming suits provided with preformed breast receiving pockets. Such suits, unless provided with special brassire attachments which add considerably to the labor and manufacturing costs, are open to the objection that the general appearance and figure molding properties thereof are soon impaired by spreading, stretching and sagging of the breast pockets.

In most cases it is desirable that the breast pockets, the body section, and the trunk section of suits of the type herein referred to be made of the same material and that such material possess a certain amount of stretch. When such a suit has been worn several times, particularly after it has been wet, the spreading and stretching of the breast pockets results in a, permanent sagging of the pockets which spoils both the general appearance and the original breast molding efi'ect.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved form of swimming suit embodying simple and inexpensive means for preventing spreading and excessive stretching of the breast pockets.

According to the preferred embodiment of this invention the breast pockets are made of stretchable material but are joined together by a section of non-stretchable material which prevents the aforementioned undesirable spreading apart or separation of the breast pockets. Each breast pocket is also provided with a strip or section of non-stretchable material arranged to prevent or restrict the stretching action along the edge por tion of the pocket which is sewn to the body section of the garment. The non-stretchable material extending along edges of the breast pockets which are joined to the body section may be coextensive with such edges and may be joined to the non-stretchable material which is interposed between the breast pockets. Alternately, the strips or sections of non-stretchable material extending along the said edges of the breast pockets may be arranged so that they terminate in spaced relation to the section of non-stretchable material interposed between the breast pocket sections. In either case sufiicient stretch control may be obtained to prevent excessive spreading, stretching and sagging of the breast pockets.

Proceeding now to a more detailed description of this invention reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a front view of a swimming suit embodying my invention. In this View the inelastic within and between the breast pockets is indicated by dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is 'a rear view of the swimming suit appearing in Fig. 1. In this view the inelastic stretch controlling sections arranged within the breast pockets are shown in full lines while the inelastic stretch controlling sections arranged between the pockets is shown by dotted lines since this last mentioned section is interposed between the body and lining portions of the garment.

.Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with a portion of the lining broken away to disclose the inelastic stretch controlling section which is arranged between the breast pockets.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and shows how the lining is attached to the upper edge of the front portion of the trunk section of the garment.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a slight modification.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inelusive, 5 designates a swimming suit including a body section 6, a trunk section I and separately formed breast pockets 8, all preferably made of the same material. The upper end of the front portion 6a of body section 6 is cut to provide concavely curved edges 9 to which are sewn the convexly curved edges IU of the breast pockets 8, it being noted that the breast pockets are separated from each other by an upward extension I I of the body section which lies between the adjacent ends of the curved edges 9. As shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3, curved strips or sections I4 of non-stretchable fabric are secured to the inner sides of the breast pockets 8 so that these strips or sections are adjacent to and coextensive with the curved edges in of said pockets. made of relatively narrow width so that they prevent stretching of the breast pockets along a relatively narrow zone immediately adjoining the curved edges 10 but permit an appreciable amount of stretch to take place in other portions of the pockets.

A substantially triangular section of nonstretchable fabric I5 is arranged rearwardly of the body extension H so that this section of fabric lies between the breast pockets 8. The sides of the triangular section [5 are preferably sewn to the adjacent portions of the curved edges H] of the pockets 8. The purpose of the section I5 is to prevent spreading apart or separation of the breast pockets 8 with respect to each other.

stretch controlling material which is arranged In the absence of the section l5 such spreading As shown in Fig. 3 the strips M are or separation of the breast pockets would occur due to lateral stretch of the interposed extension ll of the body section 6.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 5, the stretch controlling strip I4 of each pocket 8 extends to the outer end of the curved edge ID of said pocket but terminates a substantial distance short of the inner end of said curved edge. While this construction is not as desirable as that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive it does provide a generally improved garment in which spreading, stretching and sagging of the breast pockets is effectively prevented.

The front portion of the body section 6 is pref:

erably provided with an inner lining I! which overlies and conceals the stretch controlling section 15 interposed between the'breast-pockets.

The trunk section 1 comprises front and back portions l8 and 19, the upper edge of the front portion 18 being joined to the lower end of the lining and the. upper edge of the back portion [9 being joined to the lower end of the back portion 6b of the body section 6; The sides of the front portion I8 of the trunk section are stitched in place as indicated at 20 to complete the leg openings 2!.

Having thus described what I now conceive to be the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that various modification may be resorted to within the scope and spirit of the.

appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A bathing suit comprising a body section and breast pocket sections each made of stretchable material, each breast pocket section having a convexly curved edge portion joined to a coextensive concavely curved edge portion of thebody section, an arcuate reinforcing strip of nonstretchable material located immediately above and secured along the convexly curved edge of each breast pocket section, and a body reinforcing section of non-stretchable material located over a portion of the body section lying between the breast sections and having its side edges secured to the convexly curved edges of said pocket sections.

JOSEPHINE HAY WARD. 

